[Click eStock] "Naver Data Power Verification Timing... Target Price Maintained"

NH Investment & Securities maintained a buy rating and a target price of 310,000 KRW for Naver (NAVER) on the 5th, stating that "Naver's influence is expanding through artificial intelligence (AI)."

On the same day, Jaemin Ahn, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "If Naver effectively utilizes data such as individual users' purchase history, searches, and content consumption, it can become an incredibly personalized super platform. They are gradually implementing this through AI."

He added, "Naver's redesigned homepage aims for personalized recommended content. This is becoming more sophisticated by applying AI," and evaluated, "Moreover, the short-form video content 'Clip' and the streaming service 'Chijijik' are services expected to increase the influx and retention time of users in their teens and twenties."

Regarding the business-to-business (B2B) AI business, he explained, "Concerns remain high, but services such as 'Clova for AD,' 'Connect X,' and 'Clova Studio' are being gradually unveiled. References are being built with Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) division and the Bank of Korea, so related results will gradually appear."

Regarding the fourth-quarter performance last year, researcher Ahn evaluated, "Revenue increased by 11.7% year-on-year to 2.54 trillion KRW, and operating profit rose by 20.5% to 405.5 billion KRW. The operating profit met both the previous estimate of 405.5 billion KRW and the market consensus of 396.3 billion KRW."

He also added, "Although search platform revenue recorded 928.3 billion KRW due to sluggish display advertising, commerce revenue, which began introducing a charging system, grew well at 660.5 billion KRW, and fintech revenue reached 356 billion KRW," and continued, "Personnel expenses slightly increased due to performance bonuses. Including marketing expenses of 356.5 billion KRW, which decreased by 8.6% from the previous quarter, overall costs remained stable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.